The Dreamer
by Chanceawakening
Summary: Peeta always dreams of the girl with the braid, his very own goddess, but he never thought she was real. Fair warning, this is a heavily M rated story.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first ever story, hope you all enjoy. Any feedback is welcome. _

_ - Chanceawakening_

* * *

He had the same dream again.

It began the same way as always, walking through the apartment towards the bedroom, he knew she would be there, she was always there.

This time he saw her sprawled across the bed, he chuckled slightly - she never left him any room. The sheet was low on her waist, tempting, teasing him to peak at what was under it, any other time he would have gone straight her, but tonight, he watched her. Her braid was coming loss and she was snoring slightly, he walked towards her but froze when she mumbled something. She was restless, and just as he started to walk towards her again, she sighed his name.

_God she says my name perfectly._

Another step forward and she turned in her sleep, and as her hand started to move slowly down her body he couldn't stop himself this time. He moved to the bed and slowly started to kiss down her neck, he loved her taste, he couldn't get enough of it. She moaned and slowly opened her eyes, they were filled with lust. He couldn't wait much longer; she nodded understanding the need growing between them. Slowly, ever so slowly he slid into her, both groaning at the sensation of what was them, no words were needed, he just followed his gut instinct and moved.

His dreams were always the same, same apartment, same bedroom, same braided goddess. Every single night he dreams of her, of them, of sex. In his dreams he is her equal, he can do anything he wants and she loves it. He wishes she was real, that she wasn't just something that his pent up sexual mind has created, but he knew the truth. She wasn't real.

As he went about his morning gym workout he realised he was sore again, it's always the same on days after his dream goddess makes an appearance. He pushes through it though. As he starts on the treadmill he runs, the workout helps him forget about how pathetic his life is. At 25 he expected to be at least be doing something with his life, but he was in a rut. After being kicked out of his childhood home as soon as he finished high school he thought he could get by with the scholarship the university had offered him, but as it was it didn't, of course it didn't, his life was never that easy.

The apartment he had was so basic that he essentially only slept there. When he wasn't at uni or working he was at the gym. There he met his one and only friend, Finn. As he looked to his left his friend was running next to him, this was their thing, morning runs.

Finn sees him looking and gives him his trademark smirk, "Oh man," he puffs out, "you sure you're up to running longer? Looks like you had a big night last night". With a wink Finn reaches over and turns the treadmills down to the cool down setting.  
"Please, I actually need a social life to have any kind of fun you're talking about," Peeta exasperates, but returns his friend's wink anyway.  
"But you have that 'just-got-recently-fucked' look going. What's up with that anyway? I always tell you about my conquests, you never talk about what goes behind doors of casa de Mellark," Finn raises his eyebrows in a challenge which Peeta refuses to take.  
"Get off it, I do not have that look, you and I both know I haven't had sex," this earns him an eye roll from Finn. After they complete their cool down they make their way to the change rooms and begin getting ready for the showers.

As Peeta hopped out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist.  
"Holy fuck, man!" Peeta jumped as his friend stared at him in awe and a little bit hurt, "I knew it! I knew it! Who is she?" Finn was practically jumping waiting for Peeta to respond.  
"What - what the hell are you on about?"  
"The hickies, I knew you just got laid, I just knew it. I'm a little hurt you didn't want to tell your best bud about it, but overall I'm proud my little man is growing up"

That's when Peeta saw them, and when he did, he froze. What. The. Fuck! There were half a dozen scattered across his neck and his side.

He dreams again that night.

Already in bed with his goddess, he couldn't be happier; actually he could – if she was real. But he was enjoying his dream. This time she was riding him, hard and fast. Every time she sunk back onto him she clenched around him. He wasn't going to last long, he knew it, he quickly flipped her onto her back and she smirked up at him, she always loved when he took charge. He snuck his hand down onto her clit to speed her along to her orgasm; he wanted to watch her come undone as he pumped into her. He was mesmerised by his dick sliding in and out of her that he almost missed seeing her face as she came apart, but he saw it, and it triggered his own.  
As she screamed out his name, he wished he had a name for this goddess but nothing seemed to fit her, she was exquisite and unique, her name needed to be equal to her beauty but he came up blank.

As he gazed down at her he suddenly got the urge to talk to her, he figured that his subconscious might be able to pick out the appropriate name. "God you are perfect…" he pauses watching her, her piercing grey eyes and staring back up to her and he loses his nerve to ask her.

As he wakes up to the sound of his alarm the next morning he feels gorgy and still tired. As he tries to pull himself up for his gym session with Finn he realises that to get through the rest of the day he would rather sleep then deal with Finn. Sending him a quick message, Peeta quickly falls back to sleep.  
When Peeta wakes up again the second time he feels so much more refreshed. He didn't dream of his goddess but knew that all good things must come to an end; of course he would stop dreaming of her.

The flashing of his phone distracts him from his daydreams of the goddess.  
_You horndog! You have to fucking tell me the name of this minx that makes you skip our morning runs. I will get it out of you one way or another! Go fuck more like I know you bunnies will._  
Peeta cringes slightly at Finn's crassness, but he shouldn't be too shocked, this is the first time he has ever had to cancel on their runs, of course Finn would be curious.

He doesn't dream about her for the next few nights.

He doesn't know if he should feel elated or anxious when Friday rolls around and he realises that the dreams haven't happened all week. But as he gets out of his afternoon class at uni he realises he misses this goddess, just the way she was always warm, and the small smile that plays on her face when she sees him at the foot of her bed. He cares about her, a fucking imaginary woman! He feels disgusted with himself as he walks through his apartment complex; he is rarely here during the day, choosing to work after classes. Though with exams coming up he has had to cut back his shifts, with the result that his kitchen is practically bare these days.  
Just as he is closing his door he thinks he sees his goddess, well her braid anyway across the hall. But when he looks again she isn't there, and why would she be there, she's in his mind. But with just the glimpse he's hard.

_Fuck_.

He needs to deal with this obsession, but not right now, now he will jerk off to his goddess. He slowly walks into his room and in the back of his mind he contemplates why his dreams never happen in his bedroom. When he reaches his bed he slowly gets undressed waiting for his cock to spring free, he recreates his favourite dream of the goddess. As he clasps his hand around his himself he imagines it's her hand, first hesitant to touch him then eager to learn how he likes it. She begins to lower down and he gasps out loud, thinking of her mouth on him, how she enjoys watching how his dick disappears into her mouth. How she hums around him, sending shivers down his spine. He is almost there, ready for her to take it all, she always takes it. He comes loud and wonders if his neighbours are home and if they heard him. He doesn't really care; he hasn't seen them before, even after living here for a few years.

He wakes up later that night to a sound, well several actually; music and voices can be heard through his walls, he decides that he won't be getting back to sleep soon and rationalises going to the gym now to make up for the session he missed the other week.  
As he is locking up his door he hears a voice above the others that stops him cold, he would recognise that voice anywhere, more specifically that giggle. His goddess makes that giggle; she did it once when he started tickling her with his three day old scruff.

He pauses at the door, unsure what to do, he wants to see the person that matches that laugh but can't find the nerve to do anything about it.  
Just as he starts to turn around the door opens and there stands a blonde, clearly drunk. She giggles at him and he begins to shuffle his feet, clearly uncomfortable under her scrutiny. Then she leans back and yells out to someone, "Katniss, you said your neighbour was hot but fuck … he is one fine piece of specimen," the blonde then takes another swing of her drink and turns and walks away leaving the door wide open.  
Peeta tries to be inconspicuous as he peers around the doorframe to see if he can spot 'Katniss'. But as he does, the blonde comes back and giggles again, pulling him in with her. "I'm Primrose, Katniss' sister, I can't believe I'm finally meeting you," she's slurring her words now and with each sentence he becomes more and more confused.

Then his goddess comes around the corner, clearly confused by her sister talking with herself, but then she sees him and her face lights up. He is frozen, this is his goddess. His dream girl. His. Now … his neighbour?  
_What the fuck was going on?  
_"Hey Peeta, you home early today?" she asks quickly looking at the blonde next to him. Under the scrutiny of his goddess- no Katniss he quickly moves away from the blonde. They both laugh at his movement.  
_Is this some kind of joke? The fuck?! Am I in some twilight zone shit or something?_  
Katniss looks a little confused by his standoff behaviour but continues to look between her sister and him.  
"Ah… ah yeah, yeah, I'm not working tonight."  
At this Primrose quickly jumps up, "perfect! You can help us celebrate; I just graduated from my degree in nursing!" She starts bouncing around and quickly runs into the kitchen to retrieve a beer from the fridge before anyone could say anything.  
"Prim," Katniss starts, looking at Peeta comically, "I'm sure Peeta has plans before you kidnapped him." She says this while quickly taking in what he was wearing, as he watches her watching him she licks her lips and he just knew, he knew she wanted him. And as Prim came into the room she looks between the two of them and quickly backs out again.

"So…" he doesn't know what to do, she is just sitting there waiting. "Umm…"  
"I'm sorry, I didn't think you would home tonight or I would have asked you to come over and meet Prim officially, not like that. Anyway you're here and you met her, and she likes you. I can already tell. I'm rambling," this comes out all at once and takes Peeta a little while to digest, but just as he opens his mouth he looks over to her and notices she's mumbling "fuck it, just do it Everdeen, you can do this, you've got this, you have control, you can do it."  
He thinks it's kind of cute how she is pumping herself up, but he doesn't mention it, what does come out shocks both of them, "you're real."

"Well no shit…. I never knew that," and she smiles, he knows the comment is overlooked at that moment. He breathes a sigh of release.  
He then blurts out another question that's on his mind, "how is it possible that I always end up in this apartment?" and he knows he must look terrible now, obviously he can't remember, but he wishes he did. He wants to know more about her, about what happened between them.  
"Well I ahh … I keep the door unlocked when I hear you come in late, and I guess I just hope you will come over. Speaking of which, what's been going on lately? You haven't been over much, don't get me wrong, the sex is amazing but I miss you as well." By the time she has confessed she misses him she is blushing so much. He thinks it's adorable, but again he doesn't mention it.  
"Look, I know you only come over at night, and you're usually out of it by the time you get up to leave but I guess, well you can always stay over if you want," it comes out as a question and he instantly regrets not talking sooner.  
"I have something to confess," he can't believe he is about to say this, especially to his goddess, "I guess I'm confused, I mean about you, fuck, no, not about you, I … I just well, fuck, this is going to sound weird but … well I just thought you were a figment of my imagination," he chances a look at her as he says that last part and he sees a flash of hurt through her eyes before it quickly disappears. "You were just too perfect, and I guess I wanted to be with someone I loved, and I just wanted to say that I just, well, I'm confused. You've always been in my dreams and now you're here, real … I just can't believe it. Maybe I'm dreaming again, fuck I hope I'm not dreaming again, god I hope this is real, but if not, fuck it." With that he launches himself across the room to her and finally locks lips with his goddess, Katniss.

It's everything he has ever wanted and more, she responds perfectly to everything he does and when he pushes her against the wall she lifts up her leg to wrap around his. She gasps as he lowers his lips to her neck, she tastes better, and everything is brighter, better, fuller.  
He pauses to look at her, really look at her and pauses. She sees this hesitation and lowers her shaky leg back down to the ground.  
"Peeta, wait, I need to say something, what were you talking about, dreaming? What's going on?" He wants to shrug the questions off but somehow knew she wouldn't let it go that easy.  
"It's hard to explain Katniss, I just, I always thought you were a dream, one moment I'm asleep then the next I'm in your room, then I always wake up in my bed."  
"What? Are you kidding me? Can I ask what happened in your last dream of me?" She looks into his eyes and he sees the determination there, "let me guess okay?" he just nods at her, confused by where she was going with this.  
"I'm in bed, though not naked, I'm wearing one of your shirts, and as you come to my bed that night you took me from behind, and I was screaming your name over and over until I couldn't even make a noise. You prefer it when I ride you but you secretly love when we have sex like that, the mirror to my wardrobe was opposite us so we could watch as you took me. You spanked me, hard, multiple times and I ended up sprawled over the bed unable to move." The look she is giving me now is turning me on so much that I have to refrain from taking her right here.  
But she's right, that's exactly what happened in my dream, "how do you know that?"  
"It happened, here, in this apartment, just last week actually."  
"No shit…"

Just then a slight giggle is heard from not that far away. Prim. He had completely forgotten about her, and by the looks of Katniss, so had she. We were both absorbed in her story.  
The look of mortification appears on Katniss' face as she comprehends the fact that her sister just heard about her – our – sexual escapades.  
"Honestly Peeta, why didn't you tell her you sleepwalk?"

_Well fuck, that makes sense._


	2. Chapter 2

_Okay, so it's shorter than the other chapter, but I wasn't even meant to be writing today. This is just the start of the relationship and I'll expand on it more over the next few chapters. Please tell me what you guys think.  
-Chanceawakening._

_Katniss_

He didn't come over last night. She won't admit it but she was actually a little upset that he wasn't there in her bed. Over the past two week he has been over every night, they don't talk about why he is always there or how they always end up tangled up with each other; they just embrace it.

She can hear him, his only few meters away, but the distance between the two apartments seems so big right now and she doesn't know where their relationship, or lack thereof, is. Just because they have mind shattering, multi-orgasmic sex, does that give her the right to walk across the hallway and into his room?  
Just as she had made up her mind that she could get away with it but wanting to 'change things up' in the bedroom, she hears his door open. It's fate, as she opens her door she sees he has already gone down the stairs.  
She slides down her door and bangs her head against the wooden frame. She always does this, as soon as sex gets involved things change; but with Peeta it started with sex. So why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

* * *

As always, work was tedious for Katniss, she hated her 9 – 5 job, and her boss Mr Abernathy was perpetually late. This usually means she can spend the first hour of her shift reading or browsing on the internet. Today she found herself wanting to stalk a certain neighbour but stopped herself short of doing just that. She wishes he would come over tonight, he could do anything to her but secretly she hoped he would go down on her again.

Just thinking about the other night makes her squirm in her chair, the cubical feels stuffy and her breath is becoming more erratic.  
_Fuck me, he isn't even here and I'm already close to coming._

That's the effect he had over her. Looking at her the clock on the desk she sees she still has half an hour before Abernathy comes in. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, she slowly slides out of her chair and heads to the bathroom. Checking that no one was in there she quickly locked the door, she'd never done this before but she was so worked up already.  
Slowly guiding the skirt up her thighs, she imagines it's Peeta who pulled her into the bathroom. He couldn't wait to have her tonight so he came to her work; he was insatiable, just like she was. His hands would be slowly run up her thighs until they were just below her bottom, he was teasing her. He would pick her up and push her against the side of the wall, grinding into her, making her beg for him. Peeta would attack her neck, sucking and licking, biting her shoulder before running his tongue over it to make it better.  
Just as quickly, he had his dick out and was inside her. It was hard and fast, her legs were around his waist and he used one hand to support her lower back while the other was over her mouth to stop her co-workers from hearing her scream his name.

She came hard on her own hand; it was one of her most intense orgasm that she had ever delivered herself. She had never had such a vivid imagination before, but she could see Peeta doing just that to her.  
Slowly she put herself back together and walked out towards her cubical. She wondered if people could tell what she had just done, but as she looked around she saw that everyone was absorbed with their own work. Getting to her desk, she saw evidence that her boss was already here.

_Crap, the one fucking time I do something like this and he comes in early!_

"Finally decided to join us, sweetheart?" Haymitch Abernathy's pet name for his assistant always hit a nerve, but today she refused to let that ruin her glow. Mr Abernathy gave her a once over before continuing, "Did you break your iron or something? What's going on with the outfit darlin'?" Startled, she looks down and sees that she overlooked something while she was having some morning fun; her skirt was all rumbled as she hitched it up her waist.  
Trying to hide her blush, she scowls at the older man, "Ahh, there she is. Welcome back, didn't know who this person was, I mean she looks like Katniss, she sounds like Katniss, but that face, it's different."  
The rest of her work day passed by the same, Mr Abernathy send her emails every few hours with a list of jobs she needs to complete by the end of the day. Her mind continues to wander to her neighbour, wondering - no hoping -if he will make an appearance tonight.

Walking to the apartment complex she steels herself for another night alone, mumbling as she goes, "come on Everdeen, get a hold of yourself, it's not like you two are in a relationship, it's just sex. Mind-blowing, best-she's-ever-had sex, sure, but it's still only sex. Crap." With that thought she knows that whatever is going on between the two of them needs to stop. She's obsessing now, he is always on her mind, and he is her first thought every morning when she wakes up alone. He never stays the night; she worries if that's a sign but then uses that to hate him more. She won't be another one of those girls.

He is in her room; she can feel his presence the second he came into the house. Why didn't she lock the door? What was wrong with her? But as he crawls up her body she knew she left the door unlocked just for this. This calmness that occurs when they are together; he presses a kiss to her lips and she sighs his name, barely above a whisper, but he hears. The kiss depends as his hands become tangled in her hair; her hands on the side of his waist, pulling him between her legs. She can't deny him. She never has.  
He kisses across her chin, and down her neck. She starts to lift her hips up to meet his, but he holds her down, refusing to let her get any relief. This is nothing like what she fantasied about today, he was taking his time, remembering every sigh she made and every contour of her body. She doesn't know which one she likes more.  
He slowly brings his hand down towards her breast; the anticipation of what is to come has her bowing up to meet his hand halfway. He circles her nipple before cupping her, she moans into his mouth as he growls out, "fuck, you're always so responsive, you like it when I tease you? Do you think about me doing this to you? I'm going to make you come so hard tonight."  
She whimpers in response, too far gone to respond, not that she could as his hand is slowly making the journey down towards her panties. She can't even remember what ones she chucked on before heading to bed tonight, but she didn't care. She was so wet; her need to have him was so overpowering that she rolled them over so she was straddling his hips. Before either of the think they were both undressed kissing and caressing each other.  
She needed more, craved more; feeling emboldened she moves up so she is sitting on his face, there is no question in his eyes, he wants to do this as much as she wants it. Eyes locked, he moves his mouth to her entrance, his tongue tantalising moving up to where she wants him most and when he reaches her clit she has to hold onto the headboard to stop her from falling forward. With the extra support she slowly rocks her hips back and forth; she won't last long like this. His pupils are wide as he watches her take control, her movements start to become sporadic and she starts moaning louder.  
His name is on her lips as she comes against his mouth, this man, the epitome of manliness has a cheshire grin on his face as she moves down his body. She reaches behind her to grip onto his dick, he groans as she guides him into her. She loves this, the feeling of him inside of her; she can't get enough of it. They move in harmony with each other, and as they lock eyes, it's her undoing. She comes hard and Peeta holds onto her hips driving up into her to find his own release.  
He moves her over to the side as he gets up to clean himself, she almost opens her mouth to tell him to come back to bed but refrains.

Maybe 'just sex' was okay for her as long as it's with Peeta.


	3. Chapter 3

_I know there was some confusion about the time line of the story, Chapter 2 happened before Chapter 1, but I wanted you guys to get a feel of Katniss' view before I expanded. This chapter will be around the same time as Chapter 1. _

* * *

_Katniss_

She rolls over on her bed to where Peeta ended up last night, it's cold, but she knew it would be. Still her heart sinks a little at the thought of him leaving her in bed alone again.  
She didn't want to get out of bed this morning, it was still early and she didn't have much planned for the day. But after a considerable amount of time wasted around she knew she had to face the magic and get out of her own cocoon of warmth.

She was lethargic even after falling into a sex-induced coma last night and her little nap this morning, but she still managed to pull her runners on to go for her morning run.  
She loved to run as it cleared her mind; she also didn't mind the effects it had on body too. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she looked good but that could also be contributed to the sex god slash neighbour.

She inwardly cringed; her thoughts always came back to him; and today was no different.  
She hit the ground at a run, she needed to stop thinking, and as she turned her music up louder she drowned her thoughts out. With the music loud, pace set, she ran. The tension soon left her body and she felt herself begin to relax more, she had needed this.

* * *

"Hey, I know I was meant to come over next week and all, but I just finished my last assignment and I can hand it in tomorrow and I'll be officially finished. So can I come over earlier and we can celebrate tomorrow night? We could even go out of drinks or go to that club down town? Please Katniss, please, please?" By the sounds of it, Prim was jumping around on her end of the phone.  
Katniss laughed at her little sister, "you're welcome here anytime, little duck. We can have a few drinks too, but I'm drawing a line at the club."  
"You're no fun. No wonder you're still single," she could just see Prim sticking her tongue out at her.  
"Whatever you say Prim. I'll see you tomorrow, you bring the food, and I'll take care of the wine."

* * *

She feels him before she fully wakes up.  
Peeta peppers her neck with kisses before moving the strap of her singlet across with his fingers; his lips slowly following the same path. His hands move down to her waist and tighten before moving back up underneath the singlet.  
She shudders with the apprehension that he is taking it slower tonight; she loves the build-up, that moment when she will almost beg or do anything for him to take her now.  
His fingertips brush the underside of her breast; they do it again before slipping up further and covering her breast. She moaned while raising her hands up to remove the offending garment, but he continued kneading her breast, he lowered his head and lightly touched his tongue to her nipple, she moaned while he chuckled. He quickly removed her top before continuing his sweet torture; this time he used his teeth to just lightly graze her hardened nipple. Her hips rose involuntarily towards his, taking her sign he ran his hands down to her sleep shorts. She reached down to help but he grabbed hold of her wrists in one hand and pulled them up above them.  
He growled out, "keep them up here or I won't let you come tonight." If anything that made her wetter.  
Keeping her hands above her head she raised her hips up to help him. When they were finally off, she breathed a sigh of relief which soon turned into a gasp as he pushed straight into her. She couldn't even remember when he took off his clothes, not that she cared. He pulled out slowly before sinking back into her; he kept this slow pace letting her slowly build up to her orgasm. Just as she reached her peak she looked into his eyes she saw something flicker before he picked her up and put her on her dresser.

This time he drove into her fast, and the orgasm hit her just as fast and hard. The dresser was banging against the wall as he continuously pumped himself into her. The individual draws were slowly coming out but as her second orgasm built she didn't care, she'd fix it later. She clung to him as she came, moaning into his name into his ear; it seemed to be his undoing as his movements became erratic; soon he let out a low sexy groan which had her clenching around him.  
"God, that feels… fuck… you're perfect."

She wakes up soon after to an arm slowly inching its way up towards her breast, she is wearing Peeta's shirt and just the smell of it has her wet and ready for him. He slowly grinds his hips into her and as soon as he hears her soft moans he gets up from the bed.  
Inquisitively she goes to follow him, but he stops her at the edge of the bed, turning her so she can see herself in the mirror opposite them.

_Fuck that's hot._

With the palm of his hand he presses it into the small of her back gently lowering her to the right angle before sliding his hands up her thighs to her hips.  
Then he's inside of her. This time it's different, she watches him, transfixed by what he's doing. He pulls out slightly and locks eyes with her in the mirror.  
"That's right love, watch yourself as I make you come," she's already quivering in anticipation as to what he will do next. He surprises her when his brings his hand back and spanks her right as he pushes himself deep inside of her, the sensation is so overwhelming that she screams out his name, coming apart in seconds. He slowly rubs it – she's certain that it's bright red- before performing the exact same thing on the other side. And he repeats. Every time he spanks her she ends up screaming his name. When he finally finds his release she ends up sprawled across her bed, too weak to move, barely able to make a sound.

* * *

"What the fuck happened in here? Katniss … this place is a mess" a small giggle was heard before, "who was it?" groggy, Katniss mumbles something incoherent in response. Soon forgetting about that interaction she falls back asleep.

Shitting straight up in the bed she realised that voice was her sister. She quickly glances around the room to see the mess she and Peeta had made the other night. Besides the bed being a complete mess, her clothes were thrown randomly around the room and the contents that were on top of her dressing table were scattered across the floor. Inwardly she cringed; this was not how her sister was meant to see her like this.  
Quickly she cleaned up her room and hopped into the shower to clean up.

When Katniss walked out of her room she found Prim sitting at the dining table stuffing her face with cocoa pops straight from the box. Laughing, she took the seat next to her and grabbed the box, taking a handful of cereal to eat.  
She figured she would just ignore the elephant in the room completely, but Prim obviously had other plans. "So who is he? Or was it a she?" she wiggling her eyebrows up and down.  
"What do you mean? Nothing happened, there was no one."  
"Oh please, you are a complete neat freak Kat; we both know you wouldn't let happen without a little extra help." When she didn't respond, Prim continued, "come on, I'm almost 22, I've had sex. Just tell me who it is. Please?"

But she could never say no to Prim, "_his_ name is Peeta, but before you jump to conclusions: no he is not my boyfriend, I don't know what we are … it's just a fling. I mean we aren't even friends, so it's not like we are friends with benefits. He's my neighbour … so 'neighbour with benefits'? And the room is a bit untidy because he always comes over so I can never clean it up properly. He usually just messes it up again anyway. Though it has been a week … I should probably clean it up." She was rambling but she thought that talking about her situation with someone else would have cleared it up as to what they are, even just a little, however it just seemed to raise more questions.  
"… Okay. I just wanted a name, but thanks for that," pausing she looks at her older sister and smirks, "so, is he good in bed?"  
Barely inaudible, she sighs, "understatement of the year."  
Prim's eyes widened at the look on her sister's face, she hadn't looked like this before, it was the exact same look her father had on his face when he looked upon her mother. "You like him! Oh my god! Katniss Everdeen? As in the Katniss Everdeen that broke a guy's nose just because he touched you –"  
"He was a pervert!"  
"- The Katniss Everdeen has a crush on someone. I can't wait to tell Rory about this, he'll never believe me."  
She smiled at her sister, "Rory? Have has he finally grown a backbone and asked you out yet?"  
Blushing she grins, "my love life is not in question here, it's yours. But if you wanted to know, yes, he finally asked, that's why I'm here early; I wanted to tell you in person." They had been best friends growing up, just like Rory's older brother Gale had been for her. Gale was actually a couple of years older than her and they were as thick as thieves. Last she heard of him, Gale was engaged with someone called Madge.

Thinking that a change in topic was due she quickly steered the conversation back to Prim finishing her uni degree. This was how their day continued until they opened a bottle of wine. After a few glasses Prim turned the background music up and started singing and dancing along. She laughed at how giddy her sister was getting, but when Prim sang a considerably high pitched version of the song, she couldn't hold it back anymore. She loved her sister.

Prim was dancing around the living room but stopped singing, as Katniss was in the kitchen preparing something full of carbs, she could only hear parts of the conversation that was going on in the other room.  
"… but fuck … piece of specimen … finally meeting you," that spiked her curiosity, who would be in her apartment with Prim? Turning into the lounge room, she freezes; Peeta is sitting on her couch, as in Peeta: her neighbour with benefits. Holy crap.  
She asks Peeta something, but if anyone asked her want it was she wouldn't have been able to tell them what she ask. She saw his lips moving but couldn't seem to focus on what he was saying. It wasn't until Prim jumps up that she actually realises she's been staring at Peeta the whole time.

Prim wants Peeta to stay and celebrate with them, but she knows that her sister just wants to drill Peeta with questions. She was so not letting that happen anytime soon.  
She has to clench her thighs together as she quickly scans over his outfit, the loose basketball shorts he is wearing is doing nothing to stop her indecent thoughts from forming.

_Fuck he's hot! Why is he so god damn sexy?_

Even wearing clothes he has this effect on her. She begins to ramble on and on, sometimes just talking to herself. She doesn't know what to do, and Peeta is just sitting there, staring at her.

"You're real," her heart stutters a little when he speaks but then what he says digest and freezes. The words were different although the look of awe on his face is what makes her smile. She likes this side of him. Then it's his turn to ramble, and she finds herself thinking that he looks adorable like this. They start talking about what has been happening and Peeta even confesses that he thought he was dreaming!  
The ache was quick; she thought he was amazing but when he confessed what he thought of her, that she was just some figment of his imagination of course she was hurt, luckily the pain was quickly turned to need when he explained himself.

Then they were kissing, god she loved their kisses; somehow they managed to be up against a wall and he took control. He was everywhere; his kissed her like he wanted to devour her.  
She knew they needed to talk more and as much as it killed her to do so, she had to stop this sex god for doing anything further. With that thought, she pushed him away; she couldn't even remember where her sister had disappeared to in that moment.  
They discussed his 'dreams' and she wasn't at all surprised that she was getting turned on just by talking about it. She recounted their last time together and it was pretty obvious that it affected him as much as it did her.

The giggling stopped her from jumping back onto him though; they both turned to her younger sister as she held up her glass of wine to them, as if she was toasting them.

"Honestly Peeta, why didn't you tell her you sleepwalk?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: **I can't believe the reception this story has got, you guys are amazing!  
A huge thank you to my beta HGLove1985, this chapter wouldn't be half as good without her help.

* * *

_Peeta_

_Dude, you ever heard of sexsomnia? –P_

He contemplates the message to Finn, his thumb hovering over the 'send' button. He pressed it quickly, before he had the chance to chicken out. It wasn't too informative, if anything Finn would take it as a joke.  
After Prim told them that he must be sleepwalking, they did what every normal person would do: hopped onto their laptop to research what was wrong with them.

Which lead to this thing called 'sexsomnia', a sleeping disorder which a small amount of people that sleepwalk get. The one difference he could see between the other people and himself is that he remembered her, Katniss. Usually people who are sexsomniacs don't remember anything about the night. He always remembered her though.

"Sexsomnia may be caused by stress or excess consumption of drugs or alcohol. So Mr Mellark, which one are you?" When he looked at her, he saw her trying to supress a smile. She's teasing him, trying to get him to smile. He wanted to give her that smile, but he felt as though it would be too fake. He hadn't felt this way since he was in high school. He doesn't smile, but slowly cocks an eyebrow up at her. Her response is immediate; she's biting her lip, a blush creeping up her cheeks. He can imagine that it was his own teeth on her lips, tasting her, teasing her. It takes more than he would like to admit to hold back from doing just that.

He wanted to have a clear head before things went any further, but the look in her eyes is pushed his resolve. Her grey eyes seemed almost silver in this light, the pupils completely dilated. She wanted him. As she leaned in towards him, he noticed her intoxicating smell, making all of his blood rush down to his cock. He moved away before it become too much, needing to do something, anything, to get some fresh air. He needed to relieve some of this sexual tension, but felt like he would be using her if he went to her now. But he wanted to. Badly.

"So … which one are you?" she asked again.  
Huh, he couldn't even remember the question she had originally asked him.  
"Oh, um, well I'm not a drinker and I haven't done any drugs since that time Finn and I wigged out on weed." She looked at him like she wanted him to elaborate on what he eluded to; ignoring her look, he continued with his story. "It was pretty hilarious. We ended up wanting to eat cupcakes, and considering I grew up above a bakery I was all for it. I even remembered the recipe off the top of my head. Not an easy for someone who hadn't made cupcakes in years and was so high. Anyway, we got as far as making the batter but we couldn't wait for them to bake. Instead, we took the huge mixing bowl into the living room and ate it straight from there. Since that day I haven't been able to look at pink cupcakes the same way." He shudders at the memory of throwing up all across Finn's bathroom. Katniss looks to be enjoying herself though.

"Pink cupcakes?" she lets out a little laugh, "Pink cupcakes?" This time she doesn't hold back and laughs outright. "Prim! Prim, get your skinny ass in her," and as Prim comes running into the room, Katniss is almost on the ground laughing so much. "He… Peeta… pink… oh god! Pink cupcakes!"  
Prim turns to me completely confused, "I leave you guys alone so you can talk and you somehow got her talking about pink cupcakes?" She looks down at her sister with a soft smile on her face before turning back to him, "I haven't seen her laugh this much in a long time. Thank you. But if you hurt her, I know multiple ways on hurting you that I will not be afraid to use."  
He was going to reply to her but his mobile beeped.

_You're shitting me right? Sexsomnia? You are so making that up. _  
Just as he was going to reply to Finn another text came through._  
You home? I'm coming over anyway. Be there in 15._

"Look, I have to go. It was nice meeting you Prim. I hope to see you again." When he turned to Katniss he didn't know what to say to her.  
The small smile that had settled on her face showed him that they were okay. With a wave he left in hurry; Finn was coming over and that meant one think, drinking.

* * *

A couple hours later he had told Finn all about Katniss and his apparent 'sexsomnia'. Finn had laughed at him. A lot.

Few more beers later, Finn told him he needed 'help' with his problem. Finn had meant more sex but he took it another way, he had made a note to look up a specialist tomorrow.  
Just as he had taken a swig, Finn declares, "Katniss must be crazy in bed." Finn yells out as he had been sprayed with the beer that was in his mouth.  
"Shut it Finn,"  
"How did she handle taking in that you only have sex with her when you're asleep?"  
"I swear, the more you drink, the more blunt you become."  
"Your point is? Get on with answering the question."  
"I don't know. I didn't really ask."  
"Ask her, ask her now. I'll ask her. Give me your phone."  
"Give me my phone back Finn. So help me…"  
"And … you are meeting with her for lunch tomorrow. You can thank me later."

* * *

The next day they are meeting up for coffee when he asks the thing that's been on his mind all night. "How did this all start, Katniss? I can't remember. I keep trying to but… I just can't." He takes a deep breath before starting again. "I just want to know. I don't remember and … and I … I didn't … you know, try anything. God that sounds stupid, of course I did, I probably hurt you -"

"First off, stop talking. You did not hurt me, so don't even begin to go there. I don't know if I should tell you how this started just yet though. What are you going to do?"  
"Well, I was kind of hoping to get your help with that. I did some research last night and realised that maybe I might need to go see someone, but you're so closely related to this that I thought …" His voice trailed off. He was so nervous, it felt as though he was asking her out. It was just a stupid doctor's appointment but he wanted her there with him. "I hoped that … youmightgowithme?"  
She answered him with silence, staring at him intently with her mystic grey eyes.  
He couldn't help himself as he slowly grazed his fingers over the palm of her hand; he lowered his gaze to her arm as his fingers slowly travelled up her forearm then back down to the tip of her fingers. His fingers went over her pulse point and he could feel the rapid beat below as he drew circles on her skin. He was mesmerized.  
"Peeta," his name came out as a low moan that he barely heard, "Of course I'll go with you. I'll do anything you want." His gaze quickly snapped to her eyes a look of surprise colouring her features as if she didn't want that last part to slip out.  
Her eyes closed briefly as he resumed his ministrations. "The start of all this. I need to know, Katniss. Please."  
"Okay…" She took a moment to compose herself. "Okay, just … not here."

As she left the coffee shop, he trailed behind her, watching her ass as she walked. He swore she deliberately put a little sway into her hips just for him. A sliver of skin showed between her jeans and her shirt that captured his attention, making him want more. It's teased him; this small patch of skin made him want to push her against a wall and push himself inside of her. He'd pound into her, and make her scream his name over and over, so everyone around would hear them and know that she was his.

Coming out of his musings, he realised they had stopped at what looked to be a rundown park; the only thing left standing was the swing set. He glanced up into her eyes and he knew she caught had him staring at her.

She walked towards the swing set, not looking back at him until she turned and saton one of the swings. He took a seat next to her, slowly swaying back and forth on the rusty swing, and listened to the chains creak in protest. He couldn't remember the last time he had been on one of these things.

"It all started a couple of months ago. It was just like any other day for me; I had been home from work for a couple of hours and was getting ready to go to bed. There were some noises out in the corridor but I didn't think much of it; you know there is always something going on in the building. I chalked it up to the onset of a party and tried to block it out, but as I was lying in bed I heard someone at the front door. I knew it was locked but the noise persisted; I guessed someone had pounded one too many beers and was at the wrong door. I went to the door and saw you throughthe peephole; you didn't look like a rapist or serial killer, but honestly, I've never meet one before so I wouldn't be able to judge. Not the best reasoning, I'll admit."

"Anyway, I opened the door and you stumbled through like we'd known each other for years, complaining that you had the worst possible day and that someone called Finn had called you, and I quote: 'a fucking whipped pussy who couldn't even get any pussy'. Remind me to hit this Finn person if I am ever graced with his presence."

He remembered that day; he didn't want to go out and get drinks with Finn and be his wingman, just to watch him pick up yet another unsuspecting one-nighter. He had to be up early the next day for uni anyway so he just said no. Finn had already been drinking and started calling him out on never hanging out with him. Not only did he remember the day, but also the feeling of complete calmness that had washed over him that night. Katniss pressed on.

"You walked straight to my couch and ended up falling asleep right there. I was so shocked that some stranger just walked right into my apartment, made himself at home and passed out! I assumed you were drunk; I couldn't move you! I tried, but you're just so big!" She coughs a little, "I ended up taking all of my spare cash in that I had hid throughout the house – which was depressingly little – and went straight into my room and locked the bedroom door. I swear to you, I didn't sleep a wink that night. The next morning you were gone." He couldn't help but smile at her admission of being a damsel in distress, but was shocked at her reaction.  
"I can't believe you didn't call the landlord, even the police!"

Katniss flushed, with indignation or embarrassment he wasn't sure. "I was hoping to never see you again! But around the same time the following night you tried to get into my apartment again. I almost didn't let you in; I was so close to walking away when I heard a loud thump, and then these really light bangs. When I opened the door I realized you had fallen straight back and your feet were thumping lightly at the door. I nearly laughed right out loud - but something in your eyes didn't look right. They were clouded somehow. I suppose I should have made the connection then." She trailed off a moment, a smile played across her lips, remembering.

"I managed to somehow get you up and onto the couch, but no matter what I said, you wouldn't talk about what happened. I didn't know what to do; when I asked you for your name, you whispered it to me so sweetly, and then you reached over and pulled me across your lap. You held on to me so tight I didn't know what to do; I couldn't get out of your hold. I don't think I really wanted to. You even began to rock back and forth; when you finally asked me for my name and I gave it, you repeated it like a prayer. It wasn't until you slid your hand under the back of my shirt to hold me still that you took a deep breath. Almost immediately you fell asleep."

He was speechless. He had zero recollection of anything leading up to holding Katniss; he could remember breathing in her sweet scent and touching the skin along the small of her back, but nothing more, not even her name. "I tried to get into your apartment? Two nights in a row?"

"It was more like two weeks; you never tried anything, and you essentially fell asleep every single time you touched my skin. After about a week of the rocking on the couch, you picked me up and took me straight to my bedroom; somehow you knew where to go." Katniss locked her eyes with his and desire bloomed in his chest, curling out from his heart to the tips of his fingers.

"Every night after that we would just go straight to the bedroom."


	5. Chapter 5

_Peeta_

* * *

The perky little blonde women behind the desk looked up from her computer as he walked through the door. Her eyes had slowly gazed over his body, taking him in before she stood up to greet him. By the looks he received from the other patrons in the room, they clearly hadn't met as warm a reception. Looking down, he steeled his nerves; trepidation was already seeping in, making his heart race. He couldn't let fear, or anxiety, or all those sets of eyes sway him. It was time to take action; he needed to be able to handle this before he did anything he would regret. He looked up and closed the short distance between himself and the receptionist. She lightly wet her top lip and looked into his eyes lustily.

"Hello, welcome to the Tredecim consulting suites, how may I help you?"

"Hi there, I'd like to make an appointment with Dr Aurelius please?"

"Oh umm … give me a second to look one up for you." She sauntered back to her desk and quickly started to type, occasionally glancing back up at him. "I have either Wednesday morning at 9, or Friday afternoon at 4. Which one would you prefer?"

"I think Wednesday would be best but can I just step out for a minute?" He held up his phone to her. He would have waited around for an answer but he needed to talk to Katniss.

He rang her but after two rings it went straight to voice mail. He didn't know her schedule on a Monday morning, so he knew there was no cause to become worked up. She could be at uni for all he knew, or at work; there was probably a perfectly adequate reason as to why she wasn't answering. Despite all of his sane reasons, jealously crept in. Maybe she was with someone, another guy; it urged him to dial her number once more. Just as he was about to ring her again a text came through.

_Sorry, I'm in a meeting. Can't really answer my phone. K_

_That's okay I was just wondering if you were free Wednesday morning? Or Friday afternoon? _-P

_I can finish early on Friday if you want? _

_Okay, I'll talk to you later tonight._

Before he stopped himself, he sent another text.

_Maybe you can help me work out which of my memories were real and which were fantasies, because I can't stop thinking about you._

He walked back into the consulting suites while a half-smile played on his face. "Actually make that Friday afternoon please. Something came up." Her eyes travelled down to his pants; he did not realise that he became a semi-hard while on the phone with Katniss. "Yes, I can see that." Peeta's face reddened and she cleared her throat before she continued, "Have you been here before?" When he shook his head, she went on to the next question. "I just need your name and number for now. Please take this new patient form and fill it out bring it when you return on Friday." Just then, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket indicating Katniss' reply.

_Sure thing Mellark, I'll be there when I get out from this hellhole; can't possible imagine what's been on your mind._

He rattled off his details to the receptionist, not really paying much attention anymore as his thoughts were only with Katniss.

* * *

He made it home, undeterred from the tasks that still needed to have been done that day, he took a shower. He started washing his body and replayed his favourite fantasy of his goddess in his head; slowly he reached down to grasp his cock.

_She opened up the door to his shower, slipping in with him. Her arms came around him as her breasts brushed up against his back. Her soft hands slid up and down his hard stomach before venturing lower to where he wanted her to touch him. She moaned softly as her hands found him already hard and ready for her; she pumped him slowly, almost teasingly, up and down. Once, and then twice, before he spun around pulling her closer to him.  
Their mouths seemed to find each other automatically, it was a frenzy of tongues; hands wandered over flesh as if memorizing each other for the first time.  
As their tongues battled for dominance his hand skimmed down her stomach to the inside of her thigh, where he trailed it lightly up and down. She whimpered against his lips; she wanted more, and he knew it too, but he loved to prolong these moments. As his hand went back down he felt the heat radiating from the apex of her thighs, causing him to become even more aroused. She moved just a fraction and he was touching her. She was already wet, always ready for him.  
His fingers moved deliberately slowly in and out of her but the noises she was creating were making him harder. He knew if he didn't stop now he wouldn't last long inside of her.  
He quickly removed his fingers and spread her legs further apart with his thigh. Just as quickly he picked her up, each arm supporting a knee; he liked this image, her spread wide open for him.  
He sunk in to her, both groaning at the contact. He let out a low growl right near her ear before taking it between his teeth.  
Her gasp was covered with a heavy moan as he pulled almost completely out before sinking back in again. They were in sync with each other, both moving at the right time to maximise each other's pleasure. She could barely do much else to him, but as she dug her nails into his back, his movements became more intense, drawing him towards his release. He snuck his hand around her thigh until his fingers found her clit; this was why he liked this position, he could always reach her most sensual spot from here. His fingers circled her there a few more times before he felt her clench around him. She screamed out his name; that plus her nails scraping against his back was his undoing. _

He moaned her name out loud as he came in his hand. He did not care that the hot water was almost out; this was one fantasy that could bring him to his knees. When he was dry he walked into the bedroom. His phone had been beeping for a while but he figured it would have been Finn asking to go out tonight, even though he knew he had class the next day.  
When the knock at the door sounded, he almost didn't answer it; his surprise was clear when it was Katniss standing in his doorway and not Finn.

"Oh! Hey Katniss, would you … ahh, like to come in?"  
"Sure, unless you're waiting for someone else?" She looked insecure but when he shook his head and smiled at her, her face changed completely.  
She looked as though she had just come back from work; the skirt that was hugging her hips in a way that got him hard again. He gingerly made his way to the kitchen with the intent of offering something to drink, not only to hide the hard-on that he was sprouting.  
"Would you like tea or coffee?" He needed to do something with his hands so that he wouldn't lean over to touch her. Just being in her presence affected him.  
"I'm good, thank you." They didn't fall into a comfortable silence; it was more awkward than he had hoped. He didn't know what to say to her; not even an hour ago he was jerking of to a fantasy of her in his shower.  
She kept opening and closing her mouth, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know how to start. Her eyes lowered to her clasped hands when she asked, "What's happening on Friday?"  
He lifted her chin with his finger until their eyes locked, there was something in her eyes that he couldn't identify but he refused to look away. His finger tingled where he touched her, and all he wanted to do was bring her face closer to kiss her, but he couldn't work up the nerve. Instead, he simply answered her question.  
"I don't know if you would remember, but the other day you said you'd go with me; I booked an appointment with this therapist, Dr. Aurelius. He actually specialises in sex; well actually … more the effects that occur within the brain; so he's actually a neurologist, I think.  
"Anyway, I was able to get an appointment for Friday and thought, well hoped, that you were still able to go … with me?" He looked into her eyes the entire time, so he saw the sliver of shock, and then sadness that crawled into them.  
"Oh … of course I'll go with you Peeta." He tried to read her expression but he couldn't determine what went on inside her head. His mind lingered on her initial reaction; she looked so disappointed when he reminded her of the promise to join him at his appointment. He couldn't work out if she was regretting her decision to help him, or wishing he had other plans in mind.

"I just need to fill this form out; did you mind helping me? You probably know a lot more about these 'episodes' than I do." Her laugh eased the small amount of disdain that he'd let slip into his voice.  
"I probably do; how about I'll help whenever you get stuck?"  
"Deal."

A few minutes in to the questionnaire, he began to regret the arrangement. A flush crept over his face as he met the most intimate questions on the survey, which of course were the only ones he couldn't answer. He had purposely missed these questions, hoping he had just read them wrong.  
He cleared his throat, and Katniss looked up from her position opposite of him on the sofa and turned over the magazine she was reading. "Ready for me?"  
His mind went to a completely different place. He cleared his throat again.

"Unfortunately, embarrassingly yes. If you don't mind, there is actually a brief section for partners. Not to imply you are, my partner I mean, but you know, you were of course my **sexual** partner, so I assume that's what it means, I mean based on these questions…." He trailed off, his face blazing, but she just smiled at his blunder.

"Of course. What have we got?" Peeta rattled off the first question.

"What was the duration of each… session?" He was terrified to hear the answer, but felt a growl of satisfaction deep in his belly as he watched Katniss' eyes flutter before closing for a moment. Her fingers unconsciously went to her breast before it corrected itself to tug the end of her braid. Obviously satisfactory.

"Oh, it would vary… sometimes it felt like we would never have to stop." She opened her eyes quickly, simultaneously dropping her hand back down to her lap. She flushed as she continued. "But if I had to decide upon an average, you know, for medical purposes… I'd say around an hour." Her eyes met his briefly before they fluttered away, and Peeta felt a swell of prowess over the revelation. It spurred him on into reading the next question.

"And each time we, you know… well, each time we had sex, did I climax every time?" This one he knew the answer to; he could remember the satisfaction that he felt in what he thought were dreams. But now he just wanted to hear her say it.

"Oh yes, you did. Every time. Sometimes…" Her eyes met his again. "Sometimes it was more than once." This time the flush that crept onto her cheeks was accompanied with a look from under long lashes that momentarily took his breath away. He thought that look was begging him to touch her, but for the second time tonight he looked away and spoke.

"Well, thank you for that, I think that covers it. I really appreciate your help with this." He didn't know what to do with himself; even though he knew the kitchen was nearly empty, he wanted to prolong her stay and found the words spilling out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Sure, maybe you could make me some of those famous cupcakes for dessert?" He slowly turned around to face her, she had a smirk on her face and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at her.  
"You want cupcakes … okay then … I think I might have the ingredients here," He rummaged around the cupboards looking for everything needed.  
He jumped when he realised she was directly behind him; she reached around him, brushing her hand across his side in the process. His shiver was an indication he was more affected by her than he cared to admit.  
"What are you doing?" His voice was husky; he tried to clear his throat subtly without her noticing it.  
She showed him a small bottle in her hand, 'pink food colouring', he let out a chuckle. "Will you enjoy watching me endure this torture?" She nodded her head a little too eagerly. "Pink cupcakes it is then. What is with you and pink cupcakes?"  
"Me? You're the one who ate the entire batter with your friend."  
"… And?"  
"It's just … I made pink cupcakes for Prim when she was little; that's all she ever wanted for her birthday. We used to live near this bakery and they always had the best decorated cupcakes, but we could never afford them.  
"So one year I decided to make her some and they turned out terrible! I didn't put enough sugar into the mixture, then when I cooked them, I burnt the outside and the inside was still undercooked! I should have just left the batter like you and Finn." She paused; just long enough for him to think she was finished with her story, before continuing. "We ate the cupcakes though, every last one of them. They were atrocious, but she loved them anyway." A smile small played on her lips at the memory. "

With that they cooked together, or more accurately, he cooked and she watched him, stealing batter whenever he wasn't looking. They were in a content silence were they would sneak glances at each other when there was a knock on the door; they both jumped being content with their silence.

"Let me in man! I know you're home!" The door handle rattled as his best friend tried to open his door.  
"I'm coming; don't get your panties in a knot." He rolled his eyes at her while mouthing 'sorry' before he walked over to his front door. As much as he was happy his best friend was here, he was disappointed; disappointed he couldn't talk with Katniss about what was real.

Finn looked a mess, more than usual. "Let's go for a run, I need to run, let's run." Before he could get a word in edgewise Finn walked into his apartment. "You're baking? You never bake," he said just as Katniss walked in from the kitchen.  
"You don't bake? But what about that story you told me?" Finn's eyes shot straight to Katniss, a small smirk on his face.

"And this is?" Finn took a step towards her before extending his hand. "I'm Finn and you –"

Before he could finish, she punched him in the arm. Peeta grinned at the inside joke.

Finn yelped. "What the fuck?!"

"Katniss," she held out her hand as she finished, "and I'm sure the pleasure is all yours."  
Finn was still in a state of shock when she walked back into the kitchen, most likely to finish off the remaining cupcake batter. Finn turned to him and his smirk had grown into a full blow smile. "I like her," he said simply, and followed her into the kitchen as if it all were a normal occurrence.

When he finally made his way into his kitchen he let out deep laugh. Katniss and Finn hovered over the bowl with pink cupcake, mixture covering their faces. Their guilty expressions at being caught was worth it though, so he decided to join them.

Half an hour and the rest of the mixture later they fell back onto the ground.  
"Why? Why did we just do that?" Finn groaned.  
"It's the pink cupcakes, it does something to us, and we can't seem to stop!" Peeta chuckled as he spoke.

When they had finally migrated to the living room Finn kept glancing between the two of them.  
"Just say it Finn," he sighed, he figured it would be better to get it out of the way now.  
"This is awkward, right? It's not just me? You two have had sex, multiple times now if I think about the amount of morning runs where Peet here had that grin on his face. And yet, he can't remember a single instance of sleepwalking. But **you **can." Finn turned to Katniss. "What was it like, being with a sleepwalker?" He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, and then shuddered comically, "Actually, please don't answer that. Spare me the nightmares."

* * *

**I'm shocked by the reaction this story has had! I love it and I love you guys! Thanks for reading!  
Oh yeah, I don't own The Hunger Games or it's characters.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Katniss_

She felt the blood rush to her face. She couldn't look Peeta in the eye; she knew Tredecium was a consulting suite. She knew Dr Aureus was a neurologist. She also knew that no matter how hard anyone tried to cover it up with fancy words, he specialised in sex.  
Even though she knew all of this, she was still shocked with the amount of information - and _diagrams -_ that papered the walls of his consulting room.

She must have been staring at one of the posters when she heard Peeta subtly clear his throat. She looked over her shoulder to find him looking anywhere but at her. Slowly she turned around to look at him properly; his knee was bouncing up and down on the spot and his hands alternated between rubbing the top of his jeans and raking them through his hair.

"Peeta," his eyes snapped up to hers "look, if you don't –"

Before she was able to finish her sentence a man in a white coat opened the door and walked in. He took the remaining seat in the room, leaving her to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room for a few moments before she hopped up on the exam table.

"Hello Peeta, I'm Dr Aurelius and I'll be helping you through this. Now, there are usually two possible reasons for someone to develop sexsomnia, the most common being a side effect of a medication that they are taking. The other reason is that they have had some form of traumatic experience happen to them early on in their life." Peeta's face was drained of colour as looked between the doctor and herself. She found his eyes kept shifting back to her but every time she tried to make eye contact with him, he looked away. She made up an excuse to go leave the room without making the situation awkward. He looked relieved when she made her exit.

She paced the hallway for a while until her curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know what was happening to Peeta. She crept back to the door, making sure no one could see her. Through the door she could just make out what the doctor was saying to Peeta.  
"- from the forms you filled out I believe you would be the perfect candidate for this new experimental treatment that I have been working on; it involves coming in roughly once a week for an injection and every three weeks we will run some tests to monitor your progress.  
I'm sure you and your partner would like to get these … episodes corrected but there may not be any significant improvements for the first month or two.  
So far, there have been no signs of detrimental side effects and if you pass these few further tests and are a willing participate we can start as soon as you would like."

There was a bit of mumbling before she heard his heavy tread against the floor; she backed away and tried to look as though she wasn't just spying on him.

"That was … something?" Peeta chuckled before glancing down at the paper the doctor gave him. "Holy crap! This blood test has about a dozen different things on it, how much blood do you think that much will take?" She blanched at the thought of it and felt the familiar clammy sweat, saw the spots dotting her vision; blood tests that meant needles, and needles meant blood, lots and lots of blood.

* * *

The first thing that reached her as she came to was scent; his scent, that distinct cologne -that she could pick out from anywhere- with a subtle hint of manliness. This was quickly followed by feeling; she felt arms surrounding her, rocking her back and forth. There was a slight caress across her shoulder that sent a shiver throughout her body. It stopped before resuming again.  
The ground was cold underneath her but it was the warmth radiating off of the presence holding her that kept her calm.  
Sound returned with the annoying, high pitched sound of a feminine voice she couldn't recognise.

"- fainted, I'm sure as long as she eats something she should be fine resting. Your sister can go home." Her first thought was of Prim, and she wondered why and how she came to be there. But it wasn't Prim's voice that answered the woman, it was Peeta's.  
"She's my girlfriend." She couldn't hear what he said next but heard another male voice reply. She tried to question him about calling her his girlfriend, but all she could muster was an incoherent mumble.  
"Katniss?" She couldn't reply to him, but felt him press a kiss to the top of her head before she passed out again.

* * *

When she regained consciousness a second time she woke up in a foreign bed. As her feet hit the hardwood floor, her knees almost buckled under her. Looking down she saw that she had a large white buttoned shirt on and just her underwear. The room was bare barring a framed painting of what looked like a sunset that took up most of the wall the bed was against.  
_  
_She shook her head, trying to remember any detail as to what had happened, cursing under her breath when only parts came to her. Looking around she hoped for some sign as to what happened, but the floor was completely bare; no shoes or clothes scattered haphazardly across the floor. She didn't know what happened to her own clothes, there was no sign of them anywhere.  
A slight breeze came through the open window and she suddenly sensed the same scent that she had recognized before. Pulling up the shirt she wore, she took a quick pull and momentarily closed her eyes. Peeta.

She tried to tread lightly across the floor towards the noise she heard in the distance. From the hallway, she watched as he made his way around the kitchen. He looked confident and utterly at ease there and she did not want to disrupt that peace.  
But after feeling too much like a stalker she slipped out from the spot she was hiding from. She glanced up at him through her eyelashes; she let out a quiet hello.  
He came around the bench to stand before her; it wasn't until his eyes travelled down to her bare legs that she remembered what she was wearing.

"Peeta, what am I wearing?"  
Even though he flushed, his voice was gruff when he replied. "My shirt," her face reddened when his eyes travelled back down her legs.  
"And how'd I end up in your shirt?" She cocked her eyebrow up at him, trying to pretend she wasn't affected by the whole situation.  
"Well … um, you fainted and the doctor said to rest. And to eat; but when I got you home you wouldn't wake up." He ran a hand through his hair before continuing, "I just … I figured you'd be more comfortable without those jeans on."  
"And the shirt?"  
"Maybe I just wanted to see you in my clothes?" She watched as his Adam's apple move up and down. "You look so much better in this shirt than I do."

Her eyes shut on their own accord, but when his palm came up to rest against her cheek her eyes snapped open. His eyes searched hers for any sign of distress, she wasn't thinking about anything but the heat of his skin on hers.

"Are you okay?"  
"Mmm, just a little woozy."

"So … no talking about blood then? Or was it the needles?" He let out a small chuckle when she pretended to faint again. His hands went straight to her hips to keep her steady; his steady chuckle immediately stopped. She took a step back, but he just followed her until her back hit the wall behind her. As if he couldn't make up his mind what to do next, his hands kept clasping and relaxing against his shirt. With her eyes closed she couldn't see what he decided until he took the final step between them, pinning her against the wall with his hips.  
Her hands went against his chest as she let out a shuddering breath. His hands slowly trailed up the shirt; tracing the outline of her curves he raised her arms above her head before continuing up the path he had created.  
When his hands reached hers, he linked them together before resting his forehead against her own.  
"You're too much," he murmured, "too sexy, too perfect. God I want you. Need you." He lowered his head and kissed her neck; her knees would have let out if it wasn't for his hips pinning her there. She could feel how much he wanted her.  
"You in my shirt, in my bed. I don't know how I managed to stay out of there. But now you're here." He placed another open mouthed kiss on her neck before she let out a small moan. His whole body tensed up. "Please don't let this be a dream."  
He pulled back from her, but before she being able to reassure him that he wasn't having an episode his mouth was on hers. She revelled in it, she loved kissing Peeta. As their lips moulded together they created their own passion; she lost all thoughts, it was only about them together.  
Her lips never grew tired of kissing him; she marvelled at how when his tongue brushed hers she could taste a hint of lemon and tea on his lips; that when his teeth captured her bottom lip it affected both of them.  
She felt his hands travelled back down the path he created not long ago; he stopped at the hem of her shirt before his hands dipped below and traced the lines of her underwear.  
She bucked up against him, impatient for more; needing him to relieve the tension building within her. He pushed his hips against her in response, growling with need as he slipped his fingers under the hem of her panties. She heard the tear before she felt his fingers gliding over her, slowly working deeper and deeper into her. Before he even went near her clit she came around his fingers.  
She was dazed but still conscious enough to register him putting those fingers into his mouth and sucking on them. She saw his eyes close briefly and when he let out a low moan of his own she felt herself become wetter.  
She saw the moment he realised she was watching him, his eyes became predatory and he licked his top lip. A moment later his hands were on her ass, lifting her up against him; instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist, and pulled him closer to where they both wanted him to be.  
When his lips twitched at one side it was the only indication of what he was about to do; he tore open her shirt, exposing herself to him. He lifted her higher up the wall so that her breasts were level with his mouth. He lavished them with affection, caressing and massaging them with his tongue. She felt every movement throughout her whole body. One of her hands was at the base of his neck, tugging the curls there; the other was on his jawline, her thumb caressing. With the former hand, she pulled his lips up to her own, softly moaning at the contact. When she tried to reach between them, determined to get to the button of his jeans she realised from this angle that was impossible. He moved before her, leaving one hand on her ass while the other was working on the jeans. With one final kick, he got them off; underwear and all. She felt him prodding at her entrance, and with a quick rotation of her hips he was inside of her.

An hour later she was panting.  
They had somehow made it to his bedroom; Peeta was in the bathroom cleaning up when he returned with a guilty look on his face.  
"Um, I can't reach this spot on my back…" he trailed off, his face reddening. She cast him a curious look, not understanding what he wanted. When he turned she gasped and made her way towards him. Slowly she raised her hand to trace the multiple scratch marks she left along his back, the centre on was bleeding slightly.

"Oh god! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"  
He turned around quickly, "Don't. Don't ever apologise for that. Hey," his fingers pulled her head up until their eyes met, "if you don't remember, I enjoyed when you did that. I just can't reach it; I'm not as flexible as you."  
Her blush increased until she huffed and grabbed the cloth he held out to her. She cleaned his back and watched the way his muscles flexed under her ministrations. She realised she was still rubbing his back, the minor amount of blood long gone. Going up on her tip-toes she whispered into his ear, "Get onto the bed Peeta … on your stomach." He cast an inquisitive look towards her before doing as she said. Soon after she walked over to the bed and crawled on top of him.

She felt him let out a deep breath as she slowly began to massage his back and shoulders. She was being a little selfish; this was as much for him at it was for her. She wanted him to feel good, but she also liked looking at him.

A small growl came out of his lips and she smirked and repeated the same movement with her hands.

"Your hands feel amazing."

He slowly moved around so that she was now on top of him. His hand came up to rest on her shoulder caressing the skin there.  
They feel into a comfortable silence, sleep almost taking them under when she remembered something.

"Real, it was real," she whispered into his chest before she promptly fell asleep.

* * *

**AN: **Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updating, I'm just starting my exams. I don't know when the next chapter should be up, but I will try and not let you wait that long again.  
If there's anything in the story you love/hate or anything tell me. I can try and do more lemons, or maybe more plot?  
A big thank you to my beta!  
Thank you for all of your support!


	7. Chapter 7

_Peeta_

His arms twitched when he woke up, as if he instinctively wanted to check that it wasn't a dream, but when his arms reached out to where she should have been there was nothing. That snapped him out of the blissful daze that he was in. He honestly thought it wasn't a dream, that for once in his life something happened that he was able to be in control of.

Before he could let his mind race too far ahead of himself, he got out of bed with the intent of heading to Katniss'. As he was trying to pull up a pair of shorts he heard his bedroom door open before the distinct sound of Katniss clearing her throat; he felt the tips of his ears redden at the state of his undress. As if out of his control, his hand reached to the back of his neck; she looked good, her hair was down and the skin that was showing behind her dark hair looked like it was glowing.

She looked sheepish and gave him a little shrug. "I ahh … tried to make you breakfast." He saw her glance down towards her hands and it was then that he noticed she was carrying a tray.  
When she started walking towards the bed he joined her and took notice of their unusual feast. The tray was covered with toast, and lots of it too. He wondered if she fixed everything that remained of the loaf that was on his counter. She had even bought in all of the jars of jam and toppings; he could barely cover his smile at her. "I didn't know what you liked, so between my pantry and yours I bought almost everything."

Before he could pick up the first slice, Katniss was up and out the door. She returned soon after with two mugs, the aroma of coffee overpowering his sense of smell. He preferred tea over coffee, but the gesture was so cute that he accepted his mug without complaint. Keeping his eyes locked with hers he took a sip of his drink to only be shocked when it was tea in his mug. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth – he loved her attention to this seemingly small detail. She noticed his minor idiosyncrasies. She cared.

The morning flew by on his bed. They sat and talked about little things, like their favourite colours and the bands they were currently listening to. It was one of the most relaxing moments he had ever had. They had just been lying in bed in a comfortable silence when he turned slightly to look at Katniss; she looked just as relaxed as he felt. He started running his hand up and down her side and she let out a contented sigh. He doesn't want to break the bubble they had found themselves in but he found himself wanting to open up, especially to her, and share the trauma that might be causing these unusual episodes.

"It was my mother." She tensed up under his hand and his eyes searched hers; the shock was so potent that he almost did not continue. However, as she pulled him to her, and rested his head against her chest, he decided to persevere. Katniss was still tense, and the roles were reversed this time, but he felt her stroking his face, his hair, and just the contact alone allowed him to continue.

"It must have started when I was still little… I might have been about five but I'm not certain. I - I was helping dad bake Rye's birthday cake; I remember I had felt so lucky because he was going to let me frost the cake this year. Something happened, and dad had to leave the room, I was just so excited that it was my brother's birthday. We didn't have much then that wasn't stale or unwanted, but my mother had this antique serving plate and every year on our birthdays we would bring it out; it was our family tradition. I guess I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing but the next thing I can recall the cake was on the floor."

"I don't remember how it happened, but my mother must have heard the noise because she came in and as soon as she saw me something must have snapped within her. I … she grabbed the wooden spoon and she just started hitting me…" He paused, not knowing if she would want to hear anymore. She placed a small kiss on the top of his forehead, as if she is silently telling him to continue, that she would be there for him.

"I always grew up knowing that she didn't treat me like other mothers treated their sons, but I always thought it was just because she wanted a girl. There were beatings throughout most of my life. When I started wrestling she would always say that the bruises were due to my meets. It stopped … sometime around when I turned sixteen. I can remember that we hosted a lot of guests within the last two years before I left for university. They were strangers to me, but obviously friends of hers. Whatever the reason, she thought highly enough of them that she never wanted them to see the aftermath of her abuse."

"Is that when you moved here?"

"Yeah, I managed to get a full scholarship into university; I figured it was my way out of that place. As soon as I finished high school I left; my dad wanted me to stay the summer but I needed to leave. I don't think he even knew what happened. Surprisingly, my mother was actually a bit distressed when I left. I figured she had come to terms with the fact that she would never have a girl. But seven years on and she hasn't tried to make contact with me; whenever I go around to see dad, she always leaves."

"Maybe she regrets her past? Maybe she doesn't want to be reminded of what she had done to you?"

The small ministrations that she has used to calm him suddenly did not feel like enough. Sitting on the side of the bed he took a few deep breaths. He knew she may be right, but didn't want to see any humanity towards the woman who ruined his childhood. A wave of nausea passed over him; it seemed irrational, but his heart rate quickened at the thought of his mother caring enough to feel remorse. Somewhere inside of him he knew that wasn't right. He raked his hands through his curls to stop from shaking and sat for a moment with his head in his hands.

"I'm not taking her side Peeta. I'm on your side. Always. Don't push me away now." Katniss' voice shook with emotion, but she held her distance and gave him his space.

When he finally met her gaze there were unshed tears brimming in her eyes; he hated that he had caused them. He had wanted to make it better for her but he needed to get a few things out of his head. He needed a moment alone, and time at the gym was just what he needed to relieve some of his frustration.

"I'm not pushing you away but I just need a little bit of time right now. I might actually just go to the gym. How about I call you when I get back?"

Even though the tears were still present in her eyes, he could see she understood him.

This was one of the many things that ran through his mind later that afternoon, as he worked out his anger and confusion on the treadmill, increasing the speed and tilt until he all but forgot everything but dark chocolate hair and grey eyes.

It was as though Katniss always understood him, as if they were two parts of a whole. She wasn't like other women; when he told her that he needed a moment alone, she simple nodded her head, gave him a tight hug and a soft kiss, and when she told him that she would see him later that night, it was as if nothing had changed.  
His feelings of affection towards her tempered the sting in his gut at just the thought of his mother. He knew deep down that something was amiss with his relationship with her; he just couldn't pinpoint the source. But he has a feeling of certainty that Katniss would be by his side through it all.

* * *

Peeta's phone buzzed in his pocket late Monday afternoon as he was sitting in his lecture of Creative Writing; the lecturer was droning on about the expression of the writer and how they convey things to the reader. He knew all about this so he wasn't too worried about missing anything when he pulled out his phone.

_Is it bad that I'm craving your cupcakes? –K_

He has to stifle a laugh, trying to be subtle he glanced around to make sure no one had seen him; it was so refreshing that, despite their emotional day prior, she had the ability to lighten his mood with one sentence. When he found that everyone else was dutifully taking notes, he couldn't help but take the moment to reply.

_They have that effect on everyone. ;) –P_

And before he lost his nerves he followed it with another text message.

_My lecture finishes in an hour and I'll be done for the day. I can start preparing some for you when you get home?_

When she didn't respond straight away he went back to making notes. His mind refused to let him concentrate on what the lecturer was saying; he was too busy thinking about Katniss, always Katniss. Just before the lecture ended he finally got her reply. He quickly picked up the phone, no longer caring if anyone in the lecture room saw.

_Sorry, I was just in a meeting. I'm actually heading home now; want to do it at my house? -K_

His mind went straight to the gutter; they have not done anything since last Friday night. He felt as though the talk about his family the next day ruined any chance of it happening. He remembered what her bedroom looked like, and enjoyed the realization that he memorised every nuance and could tell when something was misplaced, even if the majority of his recollections came in the form of dreams.

_Sure thing! I'll be there in about 30. –P_

By the time he arrived home he was relieved that he could hear music coming from across the hall. He needed a break from uni and baking with Katniss was the best reprieve he could imagine. He made quick work of getting all of the ingredients and made his way across to her apartment. With a quick tap against the door he did not have to wait long until she let him inside; his heart thrilled at the idea that she was waiting with anticipation.

"Hey, how was uni?" she called over her shoulder, already walking towards the kitchen. Peeta trailed after her.

"It was actually pretty boring, only lectures today."

"How fun," she lamented, the sarcasm dripping from her words as she rolled her eyes. He laughed at her dramatics and started preparing the cupcake mixture.

"I was thinking of making a chocolate fudge cupcake with vanilla bean frosting, how does -" He looked up when he heard a soft moan escape her lips.

"That… that sounds delicious; the perfect thing after the day I've had."

He positioned himself behind her, another moan escaping her lips when his hands reached up to her shoulders and began a slow massage. When he asked if she wanted to talk about it she just shook her head.

"How about you run a bath and I'll finish these cupcakes for you?" When she seemed reluctant to leave and relax he tried to sweeten the deal. "I can even leave a little bit of the batter for you to eat?"

When she finally agreed and retreated to the bathroom, he made quick work of the mixture, taking out a couple of spoonfuls of batter. With the cupcakes in the oven he started on the frosting, which he always loved making it by hand because he always added more vanilla than the recipe required, he sampled frequently; beyond having perfect cupcakes, this also ensured that his next kiss with Katniss would be a sweet one. His mind wandered over their potential boudoir uses for his vanilla frosting until the oven timer brought him back to the present.

The cupcakes smelt amazing; without a second thought he picked one up, smeared it with frosting and headed toward the bathroom. He heard soft music playing and when he opened the door she didn't startle; she was absorbed in reading the paperback in her hand.

She held up her other hand as if to tell him to wait while she finished up her book. Looking down at the cupcake in his hand a smile began to tug at his lips. He held it out towards her so that the smell would be closer to her. He saw the moment that she smelt it, her eyes drifted closed for just a second as she took a deep inhale. Tentatively, he took the book out of her hands and replaced it with the cupcake.

The noise he heard as she took a bite of the cupcake sent a shock throughout his entire body. Coupled with the visual of the white frosting covering her lips, his resolve was pushed to the edge. Never taking his eyes off of her, he began to undress. When he was bare he slowly stalked towards her and motioned for her to move forward in the tub. He eased down behind her and immediately began another back massage.

Her soft moans stirred him to let his hands wander and explore more of her body, to ease any tension that was there, even if she didn't know it was. He idly traced the words he couldn't yet say to her across her thighs; her breathing hitched when his fingers slid over her warm mound before he slowly traced up and down, not yet delving into her. He found her ready for him when he dipped his fingers into her seam and with a slow push he was inside of her; his name tumbled out of her mouth as a sigh. His fingers kept a steady pace and there was no rush for him to get her off; it was about relaxing her body to completion.  
When she finally came, he felt her walls clench around his fingers; any other time he would be getting ready to sink his dick into her and make love, but this time he wanted it to be all about her.

He resumed the massage and when the bubbles that were surrounding them had all but disappeared he noticed that she was slowly drifting off to sleep. He roused her enough to gently lift her from the bath and wrap her in an oversized towel. Securing another around his waist, he placed her arms around his neck and swept her back into his arms. Carrying her to the bedroom, he set her on the bed and began to sensually towel her dry. Started with the tips of her toes and working his way up, he was met with sighs as his hands brushed against her knees, her centre, her breasts and neck. He was greeted with giggles as he dried her ticklish ribcage. The act of drying and dressing her was so intimate he felt the strong desire to proclaim his true feelings, swallowing them down only to avoid ruining such a beautiful moment.

Once she was dried and dressed he lifted her one last time and settled her into her pillows. She sighed again with exhaustion and pleasure, but before drifting off she grabbed his hand.

"Peeta… stay with me." Pulling back the covers and unable to resist her, he crawled in next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He kissed her hair and murmured so softly he wasn't sure she would even hear it.

"…always."

* * *

**A/N:** A massive thank you to my beta HGLove1985, without her input I'm sure you guys would have miss a lot of things and her support has been great.

I'm sorry for the delay, personal reason had this chapter put back further. That being said tomorrow is my final exam for the years so I should have the next chapter up a lot sooner and hopefully more regularly.

As always, please review/PM and if you have any queries/questions or just want to say hi.


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